Growing Up Prosion: The Birth Of A Leader
by Felinae Silvestris
Summary: Part 1 of the series. The birth of the heir to the leadership of the Prosion tribe and the beginning of his training. Will young Macavity live up to his potential?


**A/n: **This piece is the first in a series of what will mostly be oneshots, each covering an important stage of the life of Macavity. It is set in the universe of Jellicle Realms – a Cats RP created by myself and Deminia (see my profile for the link). A couple of things to note – this will contain a few OC's but there will be a few familiar faces later on as well. Also, it is set in a world where cats are anthrofelines to an extent, living in buildings and conducting business with the humans. Macavity is the leader of the Prosion Tribe in the rp (played by yours truly), and this is the beginning of the story of how he got there. I don't want to give too much more away before the story, but if you are confused, check out the info section of the realms or feel free to PM/email me and ask, I'd be happy to answer any questions. It's quite a long one as well, and part 2 is on the way.

Enough yapping from me, enjoy and I don't own Cats! I do own Perina, Faustus, Macavity's grandfather and a penguin.

**Growing Up Prosion Series – Part 1 – The Birth Of A Leader**

The ward was bright, warm and comfortable. Large windows let in the late evening sunlight, giving the room a warm glow over the comfortable hospital bed, the visitor's chair and the beeping monitors beside the bed. However, it still had that clinical air about it, everything was white and spotless and there was that constant background of disinfectant hanging on the air. All of this went unnoticed by the three occupants of the room.

"He looks just like your father," Perina said fondly, smiling down at the small bundle of ginger fur in her paws. The calico queen lay in the hospital bed, propped up by several squashy feather pillows. She looked exhausted but very pleased at the same time, almost glowing as many new mothers seem to do.

"Yes, he does," Faustus agreed with his mate, the tall ginger and brown tom was seated on the chair beside the bed with one paw on his queen's arm.

"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" the queen asked, tickling her kitten under his chin eliciting a mew from the bundle of fur.

"What about Macavity?" the tom suggested, his eyes on his son's face.

"Mmm… I like it. It's a strong name for a future Prosion leader." Perina agreed, yawning widely and chuckling softly as the kitten now named Macavity did the same.

"An hour in this world and he's already bored with it," Faustus said with a chuckle as he got to his feet. He kissed her gently on the forehead and scratched his new son's ears in what appeared to be an affectionate way. "I'll leave you two to get some rest, you must be exhausted. I'll come back in the morning to see how you're doing."

With those words, he left the ward, locking the door behind him with a click. Perina hadn't noticed this, she was already drifting off to join her son in the world of dreams, holding the kitten protectively against her chest as she fell asleep.

"Macavity! Come on, it's time for bed kitten." Perina was chasing after her son, the kitten had so much energy that she was exhausted just watching him.

"But I'm not tired," the kitten replied defiantly, skillfully dodging his mother's paws and changing direction.

"You have to go to sleep, you've got an early start tomorrow." The queen was quickly becoming exasperated and wondering why on earth she was arguing with a kitten.

"Fine, but I want a story," Macavity conceded, finally stopping and allowing his mother to catch him.

"As long as you go to sleep right after it," The kitten accepted the conditions, because it meant he could hear a story. Macavity loved stories, he loved learning new things and he had a strong and vivid imagination. Already he knew of his destiny and was excited at the prospect of one day becoming the Prosion leader. He spent hours making up stories in his head involving attacks from the heathen Jellicles and he and his Prosions bravely fighting them off and winning over the Jellicles once and for all. In his mind, it would be simple because the Jellicles were weak and stupid and would be easy to overpower. At the tender age of nine months the kitten was already cut out to be a leader.

He let his mother carry him back to the nursery, looking forward to hearing a new story. He settled down in his bed, feeling warm and safe under the soft blankets, and looked up at Perina expectantly.

"What story do you want to hear tonight?" the queen asked, smiling a little at the kittens antics. 

"A new one, one about the Jellicles." Macavity squeaked excitedly.

"Won't you have nightmares?" Perina asked. All of the kittens in the Prosion tribe were brought up with stories of how horrible the Jellicle Cats are and the awful things they do to Prosions when they get the chance. Of course at best these were exaggerations of the truth and more often than not were completely made up. The kittens found these stories entertaining, what child doesn't love a good bedtime story? However there was another reason for the stories. For as long as any Prosion could remember, there was an ancient rivalry between them and the Jellicle tribe. As the two major cat tribes in London, there were regular confrontations. It was almost bred into Prosions, and part of the reason for this was clearly the horror stories they were exposed to from a very early age.

"No way, I'm not scared of no Jellicle." The young kitten huffed, folding his arms in defiance. No story about the Jellicles could scare Macavity, he was going to be a leader and he'd often beaten the Jellicles in his mind. What reason was there to be scared of a story?

"Well, okay then…" Perina said, pleased at her sons developing attitude towards the Jellicles. Already he spoke of them with contempt, just like his father did. So she began her story.

_"Many years ago, the son of the Prosion leader was out for a walk in London. His name was Douno and he was a tall handsome ginger tabby. He went to his favourite bar to see if his friends were around. Instead he found something else. He met a queen, the most beautiful queen he'd ever seen in his life. Her fur was a wonderful mixture of pure gold and jet black and she had deep sapphire blue eyes. Her name was Siera and she was perfect. It was love at first sight, the tom fell for her. He talked to her, they danced and laughed the night away._

When they realised how late it was, they knew it was time to go home but Douno wanted to see this queen again. Being a gentletom and a well brought up Prosion, Douno offered to escort Siera home. She gratefully accepted, for she was also in love and wanted to spend as much time with Douno as she could. He asked her where she lived, and was shocked and horrified when her answer came: 'The Jellicle Junkyard.' He couldn't believe a queen as beautiful as her could ever have been a Jellicle but he couldn't deny that he was in love."

"Eww. How could anyone love a Jellicle," the tomkit interrupted.

"I don't know, it's what happened though, now hush," Perina replied before continuing.

_"The poor tom didn't know what to do, he was in love with this beautiful queen and she was a Jellicle. He couldn't see her again, his family would disown him. There was no way they could be together, was there? Maybe there was. He told her who he was and Siera said she didn't care. She loved him anyway and what their families thought didn't matter at all. Douno decided then and there that if Siera didn't care, then neither did he although he couldn't let his family find out he'd betrayed them like this. He walked home with her, although he didn't dare to approach the Junkyard gate as he was alone and in enemy territory. He arranged to meet her the next evening, in secret and made his excuses to leave but not before the young couple shared their first kiss under the warm glow of the street lights. Both cats went home to bed, elated at their newfound love and excited to see the other again the next day._

The two lovers carried on seeing each other, meeting in secret and lying to their families about where they were going. Their love grew stronger with each day that passed, and one day about two weeks after they had first met, Douno had a special plan for when he met up with his lover. He asked her to be his mate as they watched the sun set over the Thames and Siera happily accepted. The pair couldn't have been happier. The lovers arranged to meet at the park the following night to celebrate before they parted ways. However Siera's father was beginning to get suspicious, and he was angry that she refused to answer all of his questions about where she was going when she left the Junkyard. 

He decided to follow her to see where she went. Siera made her way to the park, not realising that anything was amiss as she waited for her lover to arrive. Douno reached the park and quickly found his queen. They shared a tender kiss, oblvious to the Jellicle tom watching them from the shadows. Deuteronomy growled quietly, he recognised Douno and there was no way he could let his daughter associate with a Prosion. He stepped out of the shadows and snarled.

"Get your paws off of my daughter,"

Siera gasped in fright when she saw her father standing there. They had been caught and she panicked. Douno managed to stay calm and glared back at the Jellicle tom.

"You will not come near my daughter again," he growled, grabbing Siera's paw and dragging her away from her lover, taking her back home. Douno was angry, who did that Jellicle tom think he was? However he was also smart and knew better than to storm into the Junkyard to rescue his lover and instead made his way home, burning with anger."

"Isn't he going to do anything?" Macavity interrupted again. If he'd been in that toms position, he'd have gone after Deuteronomy and shown him a thing or two.

"Hush, I'm not finished yet," Perina shushed her son, although she wasn't really annoyed by the kittens questions.

_He paced in his bedroom for hours, ignoring his family's attempts to find out what was wrong with him and refusing to talk to anyone. He couldn't not see Siera again, he just couldn't. He was going back there and he was going to get her out of there and they could run away together and be in love without anyone interfering. Douno climbed out of his bedroom window and snuck off through the dark streets of London towards the Jellicle Junkyard. _

He managed to sneak in without any of the Jellicle Guardians noticing and he found his lovers home. He snuck inside before anyone spotted him to find Siera curled up on her bed. At first he thought she was asleep, until she looked up at him and smiled.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, knowing full well what the consequences might be if he was found within the Junkyard limits. 

"I can't leave you, I love you. Come with me, we'll run away to a place where we can be together." He answered her, desperate to be with her he would have done anything for the beautiful queen. Siera nodded, and took his paw and together they left her den, making for the hidden way in Douno had used earlier. Unfortunately, Deuteronomy had spotted the couple leaving his daughter's den and he wasn't going to let him take her. He grabbed the tom before the couple could escape and dragged him to the main Jellicle meeting area where they all got together. Siera followed, pleading and begging with her father to show him mercy, that she loved him and not to hurt him. The ruthless Jellicle ignored his daughter's cries, which had drawn the attention of the rest of them.

Poor Douno was ridiculed and beaten in front of the whole Jellicle tribe, the whole time Siera screaming and crying and telling them to stop but they didn't stop. Two Jellicle toms grabbed her and silenced her, forcing her to watch as the Jellicles killed Douno, brutally they destroyed the son of our leader in front of an entire tribe. He had done nothing wrong, yet they laughed and jeered even as they took his life away, taunting Siera as she watched her beloved Prosion tom die."

The young Macavity was horrified by the end of the story, it was so unfair that they had to kill him. He hadn't done anything to the Jellicles, he hadn't hurt them and yet they'd killed him. It was just too awful. 

"That's disgusting," he muttered, only a Jellicle could do something that awful.

"It is," the calico queen agreed. She was careful never to tell her son the same story twice, with the result that he would grow up hating the Jellicles but wouldn't remember these stories in any great detail. "Now, it's time for you to get some sleep, kitten. Goodnight." Perina said, getting up from her seat on the end of Macavity's bed and moving to the door. Macavity didn't need a cuddle or a kiss to get him to sleep, it was far too affectionate and therefore could make him weak and dependent. 

"Goodnight," Macavity answered, snuggling down into his blankets and falling straight to sleep. Perina put the light out and left her son's bedroom, heading for her own to wait for Faustus to finish with business and hopefully spend some time with her.

The following morning found a rather disgruntled Macavity being carefully bathed by his mother. She didn't normally spend this much time making sure he was clean and he was thoroughly annoyed about it. 

"Will you stop fidgeting!" Perina snapped impatiently, she was getting annoyed with her kitten's messing around. "You have to look respectable, if you're going to help your dad with his work."

That stopped the ginger kitten squirming. He was going to help his dad with work? He'd never been allowed to before, he wasn't allowed near his father's office and was always hushed when he asked. The kitten was powerfully curious about what his father did, more so because he'd never been allowed to know. Today was different, today he would be told. Faustus knew it was important that his son got involved in everything from a young age, his training had begun from almost the day he was born. It was important if Macavity was one day going to be the Prosion Leader. Although of course, it would be a long time before the kitten was exposed to certain areas of the business but it was important that he remained interested from the start. It was fortunate that Macavity was such a curious kitten, he loved to know everything and was always asking questions, trying to learn more about everything.

Now clean and respectable, his ginger fur shining under the artificial lights of the bathroom, Macavity was squirming again, this time with barely contained excitement. Perina smiled indulgently, and led her son down to his father's office where Faustus would be waiting. The kitten struggled to control his excitement, he had to be grown up and respectable after all and soon the only indication of what Macavity was feeling was an impatient twitch of his tail now and again. Perina opened the office door and ushered him inside.

All the kitten could do was stare, wide-eyed and awestruck. The office was amazing, everything was made of dark wood and was varnished and polished so much that it was almost like a mirror. Macavity glanced at his vague reflection in the front panel of his father's desk. It seemed huge, compared to the young kitten and he couldn't quite understand how he could use that desk. It was taller than him, but when he was Prosion Leader it would be his desk. He wrinkled his nose, trying to puzzle it out when his father's voice startled him.

"What do you think kitten?" Faustus' deep voice rang out, coming from above the desk. Macavity looked up, trying to find the source of the voice but he couldn't see over the top of the desk. However, Macavity was a smart kitten and he could solve this kind of problem easily. Padding to the side of the desk, he could now see his father. 

"It's amazing," he answered, still looking around at the office, amazed. His father was seated on a tall backed chair, upholstered with green leather. It looked really comfortable to sit on. Macavity wondered just how comfortable it might be for a moment. The office décor spoke of power, of wealth. It was designed in a way that could appear honest and reliable for potential business deals or it could be intimidating when the need arose. The office served it's purpose well, and Faustus was very proud of his office. Macavity longed for the day when it would be his.

Faustus offered the kitten a rare smile, which Macavity would soon learn was a sign that he'd said or done the right thing. Faustus could tell that Macavity would grow up to be a powerful leader, even this young he already had the right mindset for it. The kitten was curious, and persistent with it, always so determined. He would do well, with the right training. Just because the kitten had shown no signs of magic, didn't mean he couldn't lead the Prosion tribe. After all, Faustus had no magic, and he was doing very well.

Macavity returned the smile innocently, his attention now focused on his father having succeeded in taking in his new surroundings. Macavity liked spending time with his father, these days such occasions were rare. The kitten was fascinated by his father, he had seen how the other big cats around here did what his father said without arguing or questioning. He had seen how well respected his father was and Macavity wanted to be respected like that. He wanted to grow up to be just like Faustus.

"I'm glad you like it," Faustus addressed his son, from what he'd heard about the kitten's early training and anecdotes from Perina, Macavity would turn out to be a fine leader when he was old enough. For now though, the kitten was getting a brief induction into what he would probably consider the more boring side of things. What Faustus didn't seem to realise was that his son would be fascinated by it. Either way, he was going to learn about it and there was little point in postponing it any longer. Macavity nodded emphatically at his father's words, excited that his dad was pleased.

"Come on up here kitten, let me show you what I do." Faustus said. Immediately, the ginger kitten had jumped up onto the desk, looking at all the papers and books spread out there. Naturally, much of it was beyond the kitten. He listened attentively while his father explained everything he could, it was all about numbers and money. Macavity was fascinated by all the numbers, and what they meant. He didn't realise it at the time, but this was the spark which kicked off his love of mathematics. Among other things.


End file.
